Electric phonograph



` l.. P. PETRU'scl-IELL 'June 2, 194.2.

` ELECTRIC PHONOGRAPH Filed July 3l, 1940 v 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR Ludus Perbsche BY 5m ouvnuf AMPLIFIER INPUT PLATE HLAMEMT SUPP LY .SUPPLY v ATT RNEYS ELECTRIC PHONOGRAPH Filed July`31, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Lucius Pe/fusce-l ATTORNEYS'V Y,

June 2, 1942. L. P. PETRusHELL -2,284,678

ELECTRIC PHONOGRAPH Filed July 31, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR Lucius P. Perwscf Patented June 2, 1942 .ELEcfraro rnoNoGaarH Lucius P. Petruschell, Stratford, Conn., asslxnor ctaphone Corporation, New York, N. Y.,

ration of New York apposition Juiyai, 1940, serai No. mass s claims. (ci. 11s-100.4)

This invention relates to electric phonographs and more particularly to remote control arrangements and operation indicating mechanisms for i such phonographs.

It is an object of this inver'iiionio provide an improved electric phonograph system and an arrangement for remotely controlling the operation of such a phonograph and for indicating the phase of such' operation to the operator at a distance from the machine.

It is a further object of this invention to'provide a simple, improved, and easily constructed switch operating mechanism responsive to the nected through a single-pole double-throw switch ,I3 such, for example, as a mercury switch, to a suitable power source in the manner hereinafter to be described, so vthat either motor 6, motor 'I` or both motors may be operated by tilting the mercury switch I3, respectively, to the left (as shown in the drawings), to the right, or maintaining it in a horizontal position. Suitable recording units or cutting heads I4 and I 5, such, for example, as those shown in United States Patent No. 2,057,621, are associated with the mandrels 2 and 3, respectively, and are adapted motion of the recording `unit of' such a phonograph for operating remote control apparatus andl indicating mechanisms.

'I'hese and other apparent objects andiadvantages of this invention are obtained by themeans described in the following specification and may 'be morereadily understood' bryreference to44 the accompanyinggdra'wings which:

C .Figure 1 showsa schematic wiring diagram*- of an electric phonograph power 'supply and re'- i of an electric phonograph -incorporating the im proved switch actuating structure of the invention Figure 3 shows another verticalsection of a portion of the electric phonograph, taken Vonline 3-3 of Figure 2; and

Figure 4 shows a horizontal section of a detail of thestructure, taken on line l--d of Figure 2.

For the purposes of the present description this invention has been shown embodied in a multiple mandrel sound recording machine such, for example, as that shown in U. S. Patent No. 2,026,398. Such machines are well-known in the art and do not, per se, form any portion of the invention herein described. Furthermore, the machine herein disclosed incorporates the improv'ed universal power supply arrangement and the remote control and indicating features disclosed in the co-pending application Serial No. 310,368, of which this application is a continuation-in-part.

It is sufficient for the present description to state that such a machine comprises essentially a plurality of recording units, generally shown in Figure 1 at I and II, having record supporting mandrels, 2 and 3, rotatably mounted on suitable frames I and adapted to be rotated by driving motors 6 and 1 through suitable pulleys 8 and I and belts I2. The motors 5 and 1 are conporting mandrels 2 and 3.

to cut sound tracks in cylindrical record blanks when such blanks are placed on the record sup- The cutting heads I4 and I are mounted on suitable carriage structures (see Figure 2) which are adapted to be driven across mandrels 2 and 3 from left to right by means of feed screws operated through suitable gears (not shown) from the pulleys I0. Recorder units I 4 and I5 are connected to the output of a vacuum tube amplifier 20, through a single-pole double-throw switch IE, which may be similar to switch I3. The input 22 of ampliiier is shown connected to a microphone 24,

although it may be connected to any electrical source modulated by the sound to be recorded. The amplier 20 may be any suitable amplifying de vice having surlicient amplifying ability and power output for the particular installation and it preferably includes a power supply rectifier Aand filter arrangement. Alternating current power is furnished to the anode potential portion of this .amplifier unit through leads 26 from a secondary winding 28 of a power supply transformer, generally indicated at 30, in the manner hereinafter to be described and the heating current for the filaments or heaters of the vacuum tubes of the amplifier unit 20 is supplied through leads from another secondary winding 32 of the transformer 30.. i

When alternating current power is supplied to amplifier 20 and to the circuit of motors 6 and 1, record blanks are placed on mandrels 2 and 3 and the cutting heads I4 and I5 are placed in their initial or left-hand positions, the apparatus is ready to operate. As described in the abovementioned United States Patent No. 2,026,398,

mercury switches I3 and I6 are pivotally mounttor 6 will operate to rotate mandrel 2 and its associated record blank: and recording head I4, be-

' ing connected through switch I6 to the output of ampliner 28, will record a sound track on this record blank corresponding to the sound impressed on microphone 24. When recorder I4 almost reaches the end of its path of travel along the record blank on mandrel 2, switches I3 and` I6 are tilted until they assume a horizontal position. This connects motor I of the machine II to the power supply in parallel with motor 6 and starts it operating to rotate mandrel 3 and its associated record blank. At the same time, recorder I5 is connected in parallel with recorder I4 across the output of amplifier 28and starts traversing the record blank on mandrel 3 to start the recording thereon before the recording on mandrel 2 is ended, thus providing a slight overlap in the recording being made on these two blanks. As recorder I4 progresses further along the record blank on mandrel 2 to the end of the travel, it further actuates the linkage mechanism associated with mercuryswitches I3 and I6 to tilt them to the right, thus disconnecting motor 6 from the power supply and recorder I4 from the output I8 of the amplifier 20, thereby ending the recording on mandrel 2 of machine I. If the recorded blank on mandrel 2 is replaced by a fresh blank and recorder I4 is moved to its initial position at the left-hand end of mandrel 2, the sequence of operation just described will be repeated in a reverse direction, with mercury switches I3 and I6 being tilted first to horizontal position and then to a left-hand' tilted position as recorder head I5 approaches the end of its travel, thus providing a slight overlap in recording on the end of the record blank on mandrel 3 and the start of the record blank on mandrel 2. With this arrangement, by constantly supplying fresh record blanks to the mandrels 2 and 3 as each precedent blank is filled with a sound groove, a continuous recording can be made of any sound impinging on microphone 24. The apparatus thus far described is substantially the same as that disclosed in the above-mentioned U. S. Patent N o. 2,026,398.

Apparatus of this type is frequently used for recording lengthy conferences, conventions, speeches, telephone conversations, etc., and it is therefore frequently desirable to have the microphone at some distance from the recording machine and to provide means for remotely controlling the operation of the machine at the microphone. Such an arrangement also permits the attendant who changes the records on the mandrels 2 and 3 to be in another room remote from the microphone.

In the embodiment shown in Figure l, such remote control is effected by providing a remote control box, generally indicated at 34, connected by a seven-wire cable, generally indicated at 36, to the rest of the apparatus. The control box 34 is provided with a main power supply or standby switch 38 for connecting the machine to the power supply circuit to put it in condition 'for operation; and an operating or start and stop switch 48, which is operated by the dictator or speaker whenever he wishes to start or stop and II to indicate when either of these machines is in operation, i. e., when the recorder heads I4 and I5 are away from their initial or left-hand positions. Indicating lights 48 and 58 .are proy sition, and to open these circuits whenever the operator wishes to stop recording.

The indicating lamps 44 and 46 are operated by switches mounted on machines I and II. These switches, indicated diagrammatically at 54 and 55, are actuated by movement of the recorder units I4 and I5, respectively, through switchoperating mechanisms, generallyy indicated in diagrammatic form at 55 and 5l, respectively. These switch-operating mechanisms 55 and 51 comprise essentially lever arms 58 pivoted on frames 4 to position contacts 68 and 62 of switches 54 and 56 to make or break electrical circuits through indicating lamps 44 and 46. Biasing spring mechanisms, shown diagrammatically at 64, hold these contacts in normally closed position. The upper ends of levers 58 are positioned so as to be moved by the recorder units I4 and I5 when they are brought to their initial or extreme left-hand position (as illustrated by the position of recorder unit I5 in Figure 1) to open the circuits between contacts 68 and 62, thus breaking the circuits to the indicating lamps 44 and 46.

Actual structure suitable for the switch-open,

ating mechanisms 55 and 5l is shown in Figures 2, 3, and 4 as applied to one of the recording units I or II. The driving pulley I0 is mounted on one end of a shaft journalled in frame 4, which shaft is connected through a suitable clutch'mechanism (not shown) to the record supporting mandrel 2, llikewise rotatably supported on the frame 4. The recording head I4 is secured to a carriage frame 86 which is slidably mounted on a front carriage rod 88 and a back carriage rod 98. The carriage 86 and recording head I4 are adapted to be moved'progressively parallel to the axis of mandrel 2 so that recording head I4 may cut a continuous sound groove on a record blank mounted thereon. This progressive movement is obtained by means of a rotatable feed screw 82 and a feed nut 94 pivotally mounted on the carriage 86 and adapted to be engaged and disengaged from the feed screw 94 by means of a suitable lever (not shown) also mounted on carriage 86. The

switch 54, having normally closed contacts 68 and 62 (not shown in Figures 2 and 3), is mounted under the base of the frame 4, as shown in Figures 2 and 3, and is adapted to be operated by a lever 96 (see Figure 3) to open the circuit between the contacts 60 and 62.

The switch-operating mechanism 55 comprises a lever 58 shaped substantially as shown in Figures 2 and 3 and rotatably mounted on a pivot -98 horizontally supported in the upperinterior portion of frame 4. The lever 58 depends from pivot 98 so that its lower end` rests against the actuating lever 86 on switch 54. A screw |88 is mounted on an upturned end of lever 96 to proandere vide an adjustment of the amount of'motion required by lever 58 to operate the switch. `A horizontal bushing |02 is provided in the frame 4 between the front carriage rod 88 and the depending lever 58. A pin |04 having a rounded head |06 is slidably -mounted in bushing |02 with its round head |06 urged toward the front carriage rod 88 by a spring |08. This pin |04 is of such length that when it`\is moved a slight distance away from carriage r `88, it rotates lever 58 about axle 98 in a counterclockwise direction a sufcient amount to 'operate switch 54 through lever 96. A spacing sleeve H0, slidably mounted on front carriage rod 88 and secured to the carriage 86, limits the left-hand motion of the carriage so as to stop it with the stylus opposite the beginning of a record blank mounted on mandrel 2. The left-hand end of this spacing sleeve H is provided with a cam surface ||2 adapted to coact with the rounded head |06 of pin |04 to move the pin inwardly toward lever 58 when the carriage is moved to its extreme lefthand position.

With the switch-operating mechanism just described, when the carriage 86' is in its initial or extreme left-hand position, the rounded end |06 of pin |04 rests on the high portion of cam surface H2, thus pushing pin |04 against the pressure of spring |88 and moving lever 58 in a counterclockwise direction to operate switch 54 and open the circuit between contacts 60 and 62 to prevent operation of the indicating light 42 (see Figure l). When the carriage leaves its initial position as the recorder head I4 cuts a sound groove on a record mounted on mandrel 2, the rounded head |06 of pin |04 slides down the cam surface H2 and the pin is thus forced outwardly by spring |08, thus permitting the biasing mechanism in switch 54 to push lever 58 in a clockwise diection and permit the contacts 60 and 62 of switch 54 to assume their normally closed condition, thus completing the circuit with indicating light 42 to operate this light and indicate to the recording machine operator that a sound record is being made on the record mounted on mandrel 2. The switch 56 and switch-operating mechanism 51 associated with recording unit II is of the same design and operates in a similar manner.

As is more completely described in the abovementioned co-pending application Serial Non 310,368, the circuit arrangement shown in Figure 1 is adapted to permit operation of the electric phonograph on powersupply lines having widely diierent line voltages such as 110-volt or 220-volt power supply lines with a minimum of alteration in circuits and circuit elements. This is accomplished by connecting the circuit elements in the manner shown in Figure 1. Power supply transformer 30 is provided with two electrically equivalent windings 66 and 68. These windings are so designed that when either is connected across 110-volt power supply as a primary winding the plate supply secondary winding 28 and the filament supply secondary winding 32 develop the correct voltages required by the amplifier for satisfactory operation. These two windings 66 and 68 are connected in series through a fuse 10. One end of winding 66 is connected through main power supply switch 38 to one side of the plug 12 adapted to be connected to the available power supply outlet. The other terminal of the power supply plug 12 is connected through a single-pole double-throw switch 14 to one end or the other of the other primary winding 68, depending upon whether the machine is to. be connected` to a 110-vo1tor 220-volt power supply.

With this arrangement, when 110-volt operation is desired, the arm of switch 14 is moved to contact 16, thus connecting winding 66 in series.

with fuse 10 across the 110-volt supply line to act as the primary of the transformer 30.y Winding 68 thus becomes an effective secondary winding.

vFor 220-volt operation the arm of switch 14 is placed 4on contact 18, thus connecting windings 66 and 68 in series, with the fuse 10 connected therebetween, to effectively form a single 22o-volt primary Winding for connection to a 220-volt power supply. In either case, with the switch 14 properly positioned, dependent upon the voltage of the power supply to which terminal plug 12 is connected, the secondary windings 28 and 32 of the transformer 30 will develop the voltage necessary for proper operation of amplifier 20, and in both cases these secondary windings will be protected by the fuse 10 from overload.

Solenoid of relay 52 is connected in seriesv across primary winding 66. Thus contacts 82,

operating in response to energize lion and deenergization of solenoid 80- caused by closing and opening start and stop switch 40, control the starting and stopping of motors 6 or 1, depending upon the position of mercury switch I3, and the operation of signal light 48. It is readily apparent that, when the apparatus is conditioned for operation on volts by moving switchv 14 to contact 16, motors 6 and 1 and control light 48 which are 110-volt operated elements, are connected directly across the 110-volt line. When the apparatus isl conditioned for operating on 220 volts by moving the contact arm of switch 14 to contact 18, these 110-volt elements 'are connected across winding 66 which then acts as the secondary portion of a 22o-volt auto-transformer, formed by windings 66 and 68 connected in series, to supply them with 110-volt power.

Contacts 84 of relay 52 are connected in series with the plate supply secondary winding 28 of transformer 30 and the plate supply terminals 26 of amplier 20. Thus, when relay solenoid 80 is deenergized by moving start and stop switch 40 to open position to stop operation of motors 6 and 1, the plate circuit of amplifier 20 is opened, thus rendering it inoperative and prolonging the life cf the electronic tubes inthe amplifier.

As many possible embodiments of the present invention may be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1, In an electric phonograph, in combination, a plurality of record supporting units each having a translating device mounted for traversing movement in relation thereto, driving means for each of said units, means adapted to effect sequential operation of said units, an electrical power supply for said driving means, control associated with one vof said translating devices and adapted to actuate said switch means when the respective translating device occupies an initial position from which it moves during its traversing movement whereby said indicating devices are rendered inoperative when `said translating devices are in their initial positions` and rendered operative when the translating devices have departed from their initial positions.

2. In an electric phonograph-in combination, a plurality of record supporting units each having a translating device mounted for traversing movement in relation thereto, driving means for each of said units, means adapted to effect sequential operation of said units, an electrical power supply fors-aid driving means, control means for controlling the supply of power to said driving means, a plurality of indicating devices assura.

mechanism for each of saidv switches comprising a relatively movable member mounted for traversing movement with one of said recorder heads and a stationary member adapted,` when its respective recorder head occupies an initial position at the beginning of a record mounted on said mandrel, to coact with said'movable member positively to open said switch, whereby said signal lamps are extinguished when said recorder heads are in their initial positions and lighted when they have departed therefrom to record sounds on records.

4. In a sound recording apparatus, in combination, a frame member, a record mandrel rotatably mounted` on said frame member, a guide member mounted on said frame member parallel to the axis of said mandrel, a recorder head slidably mounted on said guide member for movement progressively across a record mounted on said mandrel, driving means for said mandrel,

i' means for remotely controlling the operation of connected with said power supply and located with said control means remotely from said phonograph and'adapted to indicate which of said phonograph units has been in operation, switch means for controlling the operation of each of said indicating devices, and operating mechanism for each of said switch means comprising a relatively movable member mounted for traversing movement with one of said translating devices and a stationary member adapted, dwhen the respective translating device occupies an initial position from which it moves duringits traversing movement, to coact with said movable member to actuate said switch -means, whereby said indicating devices are rendered inoperative whn sai-d translating devices are in their initial positions and rendered operative when the translating devices have departed from their initial positions.

3. In an electric sound recorder, in combination, a plurality of record supporting mandrels each having a recorder head mounted for traversing movement in relation thereto, electric motors for driving each of said mandrels, switching mechanism for effecting sequential operation of said mandrels, an electrical power supply for said sound recorder, remote control switches for controlling the supply of power to said electric motors, a plurality of electric signal lamps connected with said power supply and located with said control switches remotely from said sound recorder and adapted to indicate which of said mandrels has been in operation, a normally closed switch for controlling the operation of each of, said signal lamps, and operating said apparatus, an indicateor mounted with said control means remote from said frame member, an electric switch mounted on said frame member for operating said remote indicator, a lever pivotally mounted on said frame member with its free end adapted to coact with said switch, a pin slidably mounted on said frame member between said guide member and said lever and normally biased toward said guide member, and a cam member attached to said recorder head and adapted to move said slidable pin against said bias to rotate said pivoted lever to operate said switch and thus said indicator when said recorder head is moved to its initial position at the beginning of a record mounted on said mandrel.

5. In sound recording apparatus, in combination, a plurality of rotatable rcord supports, a recording device associated with each of said record supports mounted for traversing movement in relation to a record mounted thereon, vmeans for effecting sequential recording on said records, remote control means for governing said recording, and means for indicating which of said record supports carries a record upon which some recording already has been made, comprising, an indicating means corresponding to each of said record supports located at said remote control means, switch means for each of said indicating means, each of said switch means being located in the proximity of its respective record support, and operating means associated with each of said recording devices for operating its corresponding switch means and therefore its indicating means as said recording device leaves its initial position whereby operation of any of said indicating means indicates that a recording has been made on the record corresponding to the operated indicating means.

LUCIUS P. PETRUSCHELL. 

